A FORECOURT pricing foul up saw drivers filling up their tanks for just 13p a litre.

A FORECOURT pricing foul up saw drivers filling up their tanks for just 13p a litre.

Queues quickly formed as word spread of the blunder.

Within minutes scores of motorists were racing to the garage at the Asda supermarket on Cowpen Road in Blyth on Monday evening after the error saw petrol being advertised at a cut price 13.7p a litre instead of the usual 130.7p.

News of the missing zero soon spread and within a matter of minutes cars were queuing up to fill their tanks while the unlikely bargain was still available.

One customer, who did not want to be named, rushed along to take advantage of the mistake after being tipped off.

He said: “I got a call about 11.30pm Monday from a friend to say that Asda in Blyth had messed up with their petrol pricing and it was actually 13.9 pence instead of 130.9 pence per litre.”

But security staff at the 24-hour petrol station, which isn’t staffed after 9pm, were alerted and started turning drivers away while staff rectified the problem.

The motorist added: “When I got there at 11.55pm security guards were stopping people pulling into the petrol station so they’d obviously realised their mistake. My friend told me that when he went there were literally dozens of motorists queuing up for petrol as it was such a canny price.

“I bet they lost a lot of money though as it could have been like that for hours.”

The nationwide supermarket chain confirmed the mistake was made and congratulated the eagle-eyed customers who spotted the short-lived bargain before it was corrected by staff.

A spokesman for Asda said: “The price should have been 130.7p but a decimal point was accidentally left out, so 13.7p. It only affected petrol.

“We noticed very quickly and amended the price after about an hour.

“Clearly some customers got a bit of a bargain.

“We’re well known for having the lowest prices in town, but clearly this was a mistake.

“We’re glad that a few lucky people were able to take advantage of the temporary bargain.”